Last figures showed half are deliberately lit or suspicious suggesting such. Of the remaining half two thirds stuff that got out of control. Let's focus on the half that are deliberately lite or suspicious.
What can be done?
Alex
probably a 50/50 grey area where camping or cooking fires might look like intentional.
throwing cigarettes out the car window etc...
before locals switch to full-auto ...
the risk of loss to someone trying to put a fire out may be greater than the need to critically interrupt someone possibly trying to start one via carelessness... rocks ... sparks ... double fail that cant be fixed
We can rule out raptors, and lightning...
remember the fire chief saying spot fires igniting 12km down wind from fire fronts..
glass bottles in the sun
rubbish bags with cell phones and batteries in them
dodgy old leaky battery kids toys...
rust and chemical cleaners.. etc...
cars
car batterys
highly reflective mirror surfaces and tinder dry fibrous materials (cotton hemp rope packing materials)
the list of potentials would probably scare the shit out of the average suburban new parent
example
light fittings with mirror reflectors
direct sunlight
lensing to say e.g packing paper or that super thin decorative warping paper(or saw dust)
e.g
renovation/trady/building/commercial rubbish
saw dust packing paper paper wood
mirrors, mirror reflector light fittings, glass....
Hospitality Fast Food
food waste heating to ignite
...
long enough away from foot traffic
say a good 2 to 4 hour window and/or people who think its somebody else's problem or spectator effect...
neighborhood patrols would be the best solution with cameras, so on the off chance they see someone looking out of place they will have evidential support for police should anything happen
and then its 10 years jail no parole(as long as no one is hurt)